22
Jun
2010
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Bolla is not a new winery, not by a long shot. It was established in 1883 and was the Italian wine to the stars in the 1950’s. It was mainly a family operation up until the year 2000 when the winery was bought by the U.S. based company Brown-Forman. In 2008 Gruppo Italiano Vini (GIV) bought part of the winery and in 2009, acquired it all – finally putting 100% of Bolla back into Italian hands for the first time since the late 60’s.
GIV, represented tonight by Stefano Puppini, has 14 wineries under their umbrella, of which Folonari is the most recognizable. GIV produces some 80 million bottles a year of which Bolla accounts for 15 million, that’s a sizable chunk.
So now, it’s time to bring handcrafted wines back to one of Italy’s most prestigious wineries – at least that is the message that GIV brings to dinner at Donnatello’s in the Yorkville area of Toronto tonight.
Now I could tell you all about the new direction being taken by the new Bolla owners, their philosophy and style differences, from their American counterparts, but it’s about what’s in the bottle that counts here, so let’s look there.
We started with the welcome wine ... (to find out about the wines, click here)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
21
Jun
2010
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
I find myself at Far Niente Restaurant, in downtown Toronto, starring at 4 glasses of Cono Sur wine on my way through an 8 wine tasting and lunch.
What’s in a Name …
For years I have thought “Cono Sur” was a play on the word connoisseur, and I’ll bet most of you have too. But Cono Sur is one of the wineries under the Concha Y Toro umbrella and was owned by the Tocornal family – Vina Tocornal – but Concha Y has a Tocornal vineyard, so to avoid confusion they changed the name in 1997 to Cono Sur, meaning South Cone, which is exactly what South America looks like on the world map. Huh, now you know.
The Wines …
The lunch and tasting was led by chief winemaker Adolfo Hurtado, whose passions lie with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling – not exactly the typical grapes you think of when Chilean wines are mentioned. When you think Chile you think of those big, full-bodied reds that blow your mind with their intense flavours and bold aromas; you don’t think Chardonnays, Rieslings or Pinot Noirs … do you? But Adolfo is insistent that these wines can be made, and made very well. I have previously reviewed a few Cono Sur wines on my What I’m Drinking Tonight blog – including the current releases of the Riesling and the Viognier. Over lunch I tried 2 Syrahs, 2 Pinot Noirs, a Cabernet Sauvignon, a red blend, the Riesling, a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc … I found all to be appealing in their own right and their value for quality ratio is almost too good to be true (I guess we’ll have to wait for them to hit shelves to see if those prices stay unbelievable) – here are my top three wine selection of the tasting: (find out what the best wines of the afternoon were by clicking here)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
